Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Syria: A Nation Drowning in Blood

It is almost impossible for the American mind to
comprehend a land like Syria. With limited understanding, it becomes dangerous
to muddle around with such a nation – as it was in Egypt and Libya. America’s
great puzzle is its need for self-protection, however, and it must always weigh
what actions in strange lands could endanger us.by Charlie
Leck

A dear cousin in
France wrote to me and included these words of wisdom in her note: “Americans
don’t seem to understand that Syria has been there for over 5,000 years and
U.S. intervention will only deepen the conflict. The guy in charge might be
mishandling things but, my God, what would happen if some nut of a mullah took
over?”

The
morning paper carries troubling news from Syria again! An Associated Press story by Zeina Karam and Lori Hinnant refers to
Syria as “a nation drowning in blood.” The terrible chaos in Syria continues to
worsen.

“It will be hard
enough to find a political solution to Syria’s crisis at an international peace
conference convening in Switzerland on Wednesday, given the differences between
the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition.”
[Associated
Press]

My
cousin is correct – and she is incorrect!

Thomas
Paine, at the time of America’s war of independence said so artfully: “These
are times that try men’s souls!”

The
horrible and cruel events in Syria are much the same. The question of
conscience becomes: “Who can stand by and watch and still claim innocence?”
President Assad is a cruel man; yet, as my cousin asks, “What kind of
government would the alternative be?”

The
bloodshed in Syria is revolting and sickening! The nations of the world are looking
on and cannot agree on action. Russia and China are strong allies of the Syrian
regime’s leader. It complicates things. It prevents the United Nations from
taking significant action. It threatens the success of the conference that will
convene today in Switzerland.

Consider Syria’s ancient
history…
Syria is a mystery to most Americans; and one must say that this includes the
American government. It is difficult for us to understand Syria. It begins with
the difficulty of getting our heads around the fact that Syria is five thousand
years in the making (5,000 I repeat).
Most archeologists concur that Syria has one of the most ancient civilizations
on earth. Evidence of ancient life, possibly dating back a million years, has
been found there. It is part of the Fertile
Crescent. Cattle breeding and agricultural practices appeared here before
it did in any other part of the world. Its language is considered the most
ancient written language on earth. Clear evidence exists that shows Syria in contact
with ancient Egypt as early as the period of the Pharaohs. The area was fought
over in wars that go back two thousand years before the start of our modern
calendar. The current land of Syria was occupied by Sumerians, Egyptians,
Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. It was a province of Greece
during the height of Alexander’s empire and of Rome during that empire. When
the Roman Empire declined, Syria identified with the Byzantine Empire in the
latter part of the fourth century.

In
the seventh century (634 to 640), Syria was conquered by Muslim Arabs and
became a part of the Islamic empire and Damascus would soon after become the
center and principle city of this empire. One must remember that this empire,
at its pinnacle, stretched from Spain to India and into parts of Asia as well.
During this period, Syria and Damascus flourished economically. As well, during
this period, Christianity was completely tolerated and a significant number of
Christians rose to high levels in Syrian government. Such tolerance disappeared
with the collapse of the empire in the next century and hundreds of years of
warfare would follow. The Greek, Latin and Aramaic languages that had begun to
be popular quickly disappeared as various dynasties took and then lost control
of Damascus and Syria.

In
the 12th and 13th centuries, parts of Syria experienced
visits by the principals of the Christian Crusades and their enemies, the
Mongols. When the area was left devastated by these invasions, the Egyptians
followed and controlled Syria for a time from Cairo. Then, in the sixteenth
century, Syria became a part of the Ottoman Empire and was ruled from Turkey.
During the First World War, Syria would fall under French control and a Kingdom
of Syria would be established. There were serious and regular acts of violence
and battles between the French and various groups of Syrians during this
period. A treaty of Independence was negotiated between France and Syria in
1936, granting Syria independence in principle, even though French economic
dominance continued. In 1944, Syria was finally recognized as a free and
independent republic. The last of France’s occupying troops left in April of
1946.

Even
then, however, freedom from turmoil would not come easily. This history has
left Syria overwhelmingly Muslim. This is a significant, complex and
extraordinary history. In the terms of such history, America is thought of by
the Syrians as a mere child.

There
were regular wars between Syria and Israel in the period after Syria
established independence. They began in 1948, when both nations were mere
infants as independent states. Serious fighting between the nations would erupt
again in 1967 and in 1973. Since 1967, Israel has claimed possession of 460
square miles of Syrian land (known as the Golan Heights). In 1981, Israel
claimed the land as its own. In legal terms, Syria and Israel are currently at
war.

The
current Assad regime was established in 1970 by Hafez al-Assad, the father of
the current Syrian political leader (dictator). The family came from the Alawi
minority. The Alawi think of themselves as the “chosen people.” Naturally, the
traditional and majority Muslims consider them heretics. The Assads associated
themselves with Syria’s most secular political party (the Baath Party) as a way
of avoiding these religious questions.

The
modern nation of Syria has about 23 million inhabitants. We refer to them as
Arabs. They are, however, a complex blend of Semite peoples and groups.
Religiously and culturally, about 90 percent of its population is Muslim. The
dominant language is Arabic; although there are many Kurds (about 10 percent)
and they speak Kurdish. The Kurds are found mostly in the northeast corner of
the nation and along its northern borders with Turkey. Educated Syrians are
very likely to speak French because of the colonial influence France had there
in the twentieth century.

William
Polk, an American expert on Syria and the Middle East, calls Syria “a small,
poor and crowded country.” Look at it and it resembles the size of Washington State.
Yet, only a fourth of that land is arable. Most of it is desert and some small
part of that is marginally suitable for grazing. Polk refers to “economic Syria”
and says that portion is only as large, perhaps, as Switzerland. There are
frequent droughts and enormous dust storms.

Polk
builds a case that climate and temperature are shapers of Syria.

Those
livable areas of Syria are incredibly densely populated – so densely that arable
land is almost impossible to farm

Oil
was Syria’s economic salvation, but the nation’s oil is of a poor quality and
nearly 70 percent of it never left Syria. Before the violence broke out, Syria
was trying to build a serious export business for its oil. That has all but
stalled now.

Under
normal circumstances, education is provided at no cost in Syria and
approximately nine years of schooling is required. The first six years of that
is primary and general education and is followed by three years of a vocational
training period or of academic studies for those who will seek university admission.
The literacy rate for Syrian males is over 85 percent and about 75 percent for
woman. During the current crisis, however, the Syrian educational system is
virtually shut down.

Is
it any wonder that Syria takes so easily to violence and disruption? America
simply doesn’t understand such turmoil and instability. America’s inability to
understand the nation has led to a series of mistakes in our foreign policy.

George
W. Bush, in 2002, declared Syria to be a part of the “Axis of Evil.” Bush
imposed sanctions against Syria in 2004. Congress charged that the Syrians were
supporting terrorism and were building up a cache of chemical weapons. American
aircraft had been used by the Israelis to strike against Syria in 2003.
President Bush made moves to repair relations with Syria in 2006. The
negotiations moved haltingly, but the U.S. sent an ambassador to Syria in 2010.
Three months after he arrived, however, the U.S. imposed new and stringent
sanctions on Syria that were meant to block government revenues (principally
from oil production). The world watched and its verdict was that U.S. policy
toward Syria was muddled.

In
a period from 2006 to 2010, Syria was devastated by a drought that generally
ceased all agricultural work and production. Crop failures reached as high as
75 percent. A majority of all livestock died of hunger or thirst. Competition
for survival broke out among Syrians – neighbor against neighbor – and against hundreds
of thousands of refugees who had sought escape from the violence that had
broken out in Iraq and Palestine.

Civil
war was breaking out! It became, in many ways, a religious war. Young, radical
Muslims from other nations flocked to Syria to fight against counterfeit
religions and against other Muslims who cooperated too freely with Christians.
The radicals opposed the evidence of materialism that they saw among the Alawi
and Christian faithful.

America
and other western nations have trouble understanding and defining this civil
war as a religious one. Without that understanding, however, a settlement of
the issues in Syria is virtually impossible. Amazingly, as Polk points out,
this is not a war to establish some sort of democracy. Again, this is something
nearly impossible for America to understand. So, promises of a settlement that
will lead to more democratic forms of government will not lead to peace. The
religious war will continue against and among various factions of Islam.

Regard
the following statement by Polk seriously and try to understand the essential
nature of what he is saying…

“Paradoxically,
governments that would have imprisoned the same activists in their own
countries have poured money, arms, and other forms of aid into their coffers.
The list is long and surprising in its makeup: it includes Turkey, the
conservative Arab states, particularly Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the EU member
states; and the U.S..”

Polk
also refers to the “well of hatred” that exists in Syria and how we, as
Americans, cannot begin to understand it.

What
will victory by the rebellious forces bring to Syria? That is the very
frightening question. Does the world look at evil leadership and conclude that
it must be left unaltered because the alternative will be so much worse?

“How the victims
and the perpetrators can be returned to a ‘normal life’ will be the lingering
but urgent question of coming generations in Syria and elsewhere.”
[William R. Polk in The Atlantic Magazine]

_________________________

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About Me

I write these blogs to leave behind a full picture of me for my grandchildren. I had no such snapshot of my own grandparents and what they believed and how they thought. Ad Astra, you probably know, is Latin for To the Stars. Without being literal about it, it's my final destination (where I "shall forever sit, triumphing over death, and chance, and Thee, O Time").